Haydar Al-Saadi (Al- Aalem al-Jadeed), Hala Nasreddine (Daraj) and Yann Philippin (Mediapart) 

This investigation was produced with the support of Journalismfund Europe and Investigative Journalism for Europe (IJ4EU)

Waking up at four o’clock every morning has become a daily routine for “Abu Jassim,” a man in his seventies who was born and raised in the village of Abu Khasaf in the Hawizeh Marshes, south of Maysan. Carrying his wooden-handled shovel, he cuts through the riverbed, driven by a single goal: to clear a path for what remains of the stagnant water so it can reach his home and water his livestock, which are dwindling day after day due to severe drought.

Southern Iraq is facing an acute drought crisis that has affected livestock and water security and triggered mass displacement from rural areas. This crisis is driven by declining river levels caused by reduced rainfall and climate change, as well as upstream policies adopted by Turkey and Iran, particularly the construction of dams.

Sorrow is evident in Abu Jassim’s voice as he speaks about the past: “Life in the Hawizeh Marshes used to be completely different. Water was abundant, and the marsh was alive with reeds, fish, and migratory birds. Since childhood, we depended on fishing. I found my grandfather and father practicing this profession, working hard and with love, spending their days at it. We inherited the same craft from them.”

He adds: “As for my mother, she took care of the livestock, raised buffalo, and prepared milk and dairy products. We lived with dignity and never felt that we lacked anything, until the drought crisis worsened and we reached this bitter and tragic situation.”

The journalistic “Fueling Ecocide” project, led by Daraj, Mediapart and 11 international media platforms, and coordinated by the Environmental Investigative Forum (EIF) and the European Investigative Collaborations (EIC) network, reveals that oil and gas licenses overlap with more than 7,000 protected areas worldwide, with a total overlapping area of 690,000 square kilometers, larger than France. This is occurring despite existing laws and ongoing efforts to protect key biodiversity areas.

This investigation also reveals that four oil and gas licenses in Iraq overlap with about 400 km² of land within roughly seven protected areas, most prominently the marshes of southern Iraq, led by the Hawizeh Marsh and the Hammar Marsh, all of which are classified as protected wetlands by international and national bodies due to their high environmental importance and unique biodiversity. In addition, the joint North and South Rumaila license between Iraq and Kuwait overlaps with an area of about 300 km² of transboundary protected areas.

Among the most prominent companies holding stakes in or operating oil and gas licenses that intersect with protected areas in Iraq are:

The Chinese company PetroChina, a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), holds a 45% stake in the Halfaya field concession, alongside the French company TotalEnergies (22.5%), Petronas (22.5%), and a 10% stake for the Iraqi state partner, Maysan Oil Company (MOC). The Halfaya field overlaps with the marshes in southern Iraq and with the Hawizeh Marsh.

Italy’s ENI, which operates and owns more than 40% of the Zubair oil field, overlapping with Hammar Marsh, a site protected under the Ramsar Convention.

Britain’s BP, which owns more than 40% of and operates the Rumaila oil field, which overlaps with approximately four protected areas shared between Iraq and Kuwait, covering an area of around 300 square kilometers.

The Chinese company Geo‑Jade, which holds the development and production contract for the border field of Hawizeh (Hawizeh 1), which overlaps with the two protected areas under the Ramsar Convention and UNESCO in the Hawizeh Marsh over an area ranging between 85 and 390 square kilometers. This overlap has sparked broad objections from environmental activists and raised concerns about the environmental impacts on the Hawizeh Marsh and the surrounding wetlands.

The two fields that most directly and severely threaten the Hawizeh Marsh are the Halfaya field, owned by a consortium made up of the Chinese company PetroChina, the French company Total, the Malaysian company Petronas and the Iraqi governement owned Maysan Oil Company (MOC), which is one of the largest fields in Iraq, and the Hawizeh 1 (HWZ‑1) field operated by Geo‑Jade within the boundaries of the protected site.

The damage caused to the Hawizeh Marsh by these two projects is also detailed by the study “Oil Erases Hawizeh Marsh in Southern Iraq: When Companies Destroy a World Heritage Site” by Iraqi researcher and journalist Safaa Khalaf with the organization CCFD‑Terre Solidaire, published simultaneously with this investigation. The report is based on confidential documents, including the Halfaya contract, that Khalaf and CCFD shared with Daraj and Mediapart.

The Hawizeh 1 field: a concession inside the marsh

The Hawizeh 1 (HWZ‑1) field is located between the southern and northern parts of the Hawizeh Marsh, within the protected area listed under both UNESCO’s World Heritage List and the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. 

In this context, Iraqi researcher on oil companies and protected areas, Safaa Khalaf, told “Daraj” in an interview that “the Geo‑Jade contract was awarded in 2018, not in 2023 as is commonly claimed, since drainage and surveying operations in the area, and the preparation of the land for the use of heavy equipment, began in 2018.”

According to analysis conducted by the “Fueling Ecocide” team based on official maps, correspondence from the Maysan Environment Directorate, and parliamentary communications, the original boundaries of the Hawizeh 1 field concession defined in 2018 overlap with the Unesco protected area of the Hawizeh Marshes over an area of 290 square kilometers.

Our figures are confirmed by a letter sent by Maysan MP Jassem Atwan Al‑Moussawi to the governor’s office dated 16 April 2025. Relying on an official report, he wrote that the Geo‑Jade concession overlaps with the core protected area of the World Heritage site over « about 300 square kilometers ». The Ministry of Environment acknowledges this, in direct contradiction with Iraq’s international commitments to protect this site.

According to the data provider Mapstand, the size of the licence was recently reduced, decreasing the overlap to 80 km² with the protected area, but we were unable to verify this information.

The Halfaya field: water depletion and marsh drainage

The facilities of the Halfaya field are located directly on the edge of the area classified as a World Heritage Site, only about 300 meters from inhabited villages in the marsh and roughly 2.5 kilometers from the last remaining shallow water bodies in Hawizeh, known as Lake Umm Al‑Naaj, which was once home to thirteen of Iraq’s most important freshwater fish species. Safaa Khalaf and CCFd’s study state that fifteen years of expansion works at the Halfaya field have led to the drying of the Hawizeh Marsh through the depletion of surface and groundwater, and that gas pumping, reinjection, and flaring activities have contributed to the degradation of the ecosystem and the destruction of vegetation cover.​

According to the study, the Halfaya consortium built two freshwater pumping stations to operate the industrial facilities: the first with a capacity of 3,000 cubic meters per day, likely brought into service between 2011 and 2016, and the second with a capacity of 23,000 cubic meters per day, in operation since March 2018, bringing their combined output to 26,000 cubic meters per day. The study estimates cumulative water consumption between 2018 and October 2025 at more than 73 million cubic meters, while other estimates suggest that total water use at the Halfaya field may range between 97,500 and 127,200 cubic meters per day, drawn from groundwater and surface water that was supposed to feed the marshes.

Corporate and state responsibility: from contract to reality

The service contract for the Halfaya field has been signed between Maysan Oil Company (MOC), owned by the State of Iraq and representing the interests of the governement, and a consortium of three foreign oil companies which own together, alongside MOC, 90% of the concession (Petrochina, TotalEnergies and Petronas).

The contract clauses (including Articles 10, 12, and 41) states that Maysan Oil Company has the power to demand that the foreign operator halt or reduce production for reasons related to public health and safety and the protection of the environment, water, and biodiversity, and also oblige it to submit environmental impact assessment studies.

However, Safaa Khalaf’s study notes that MOC did not use these powers to stop harmful activities, and that some environmental studies were superficial and delayed. The Iraqi authorities and MOC thus ignored the social and environmental damage associated with the consortium’s activities, despite having the legal authority to act.

The consortium appointed Petrochina as « operator » of the field. TotalEnergies, which owns 22.5% of halafaya, has used this in the past to deny responsibility, saying that any questions regarding operations on the ground should be sent to Petrochina.

However, the contract states that Petrochina operates under the authority of the “Joint Management Committee,” (JMC) in which MOC and its foreign partners are equally represented, and in which « decisions shall be taken unanimously by the vote of the members ».

The contract says that the JMC has the power of « supervision and control of petroleum operations », including regarding « review and approval of operating procedures », giving foreign companies direct influence and responsibility over choices that lead to the degradation of the marshes.

The contract stipulates that a company should be established to replace the JMC. “But up to this moment, fifteen years after production began at the field, this company has not been created. As a result, operational and executive activities are still managed by the Joint Management Committee », Safaa Khalaf told Daraj. Therefore, “TotalEnergies is responsible for this matter,” he adds.

In terms of international responsibility, the study recalls that TotalEnergies, through its subsidiary TE E&P Iraq, is subject to the French “duty of vigilance” law, which obliges it to identify and prevent serious human rights and environmental violations in the activities of its subsidiaries and suppliers. However, the summary of the 2025 vigilance plan published in TotalEnergies’ latest annual report does not mention the Halfaya field or its risks, “creating a gap between legal obligations and actual practice”, says CCFD. Moreover the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights state that companies contributing to abuses must prevent their contribution and use their leverage to mitigate harm.

In this context, Safaa Khalaf told Daraj that “the primary responsibility borne by the oil companies involved is the depletion of surface and groundwater by extracting water for drilling operations. The volume withdrawn amounts to 100 million cubic meters of water, equivalent to the amount needed to flood the marshes in the area. The consortium’s water pumping station extracts 23,000 cubic meters per second. Over 14–15 years, the oil consortium has dried out the water by extracting surface water and pumping it into wells. The second responsibility lies in the fact that the consortium has also begun using groundwater.”

Despite this framework, TotalEnergies continues to refuse to accept any responsibility for the environmental impacts of the Halfaya field. “The absence of any reference to the site means that the company provides no information on identifying or preventing risks related to serious violations of human rights, health, safety, or the environment in connection with its activities in Iraq,” says Khalaf.

Total, which is highlighted here as one of the world’s largest oil companies and ostensibly bound by high compliance standards, evades this responsibility through a legal loophole in Iraqi law. “A workaround was adopted by the government, the Ministry of Oil, and the oil companies to relieve major corporations, especially European and American ones subject to strict governance and compliance regimes, of responsibility. The solution was to bring in a front operator who would bear responsibility for all oil operations in Iraq, while project ownership remained with European or American companies, and the operator was a Chinese company without effective governance or compliance policies,” Khalaf said.

In the legal context, Khalaf also noted that Iraqi oil law, which is the law for the protection of hydrocarbon resources, stipulates that any oil activity must be located at least 10 km away from inhabited areas, yet there are three central processing stations in Halfaya that are only about 400 meters from populated areas, in addition to the presence of flared gas, which constitutes a fundamental breach of the contract.

TotalEnergies says in its response to Daraj’s partner Mediapart: “assets in which a TotalEnergies subsidiary holds an interest and for which a partner is the operator, such as PetroChina in the case of Halfaya, are not subject to the TotalEnergies SE vigilance plan. Indeed, the operator of the oil asset is solely responsible for conducting the operational activities associated with the field’s development, using its own personnel and adhering to oil industry standards. Therefore, TotalEnergies does not exercise control as defined by the law on the duty of vigilance.

Nevertheless, TotalEnergies EP Iraq remains attentive to the issues associated with the Halfaya field and, as mentioned above, engages and exerts its influence as a partner with the authorities, the operator, and other stakeholders.”

UNESCO and Ramsar: a delisting threat

The Ministry of Environment and the Maysan Environment Directorate affirm in official correspondence that the Hawizeh 1 field concession overlaps with the core protected zone of the World Heritage site, in contradiction with the site protection plan that Iraq committed to when the marshes were inscribed on the UNESCO list.

In its 2025 periodic review, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee stressed that the existing oil projects in the Hawizeh area are “incompatible with World Heritage status,” and that “the components of the marshes and their natural values have been affected by the development of oil and gas projects,” finding that Iraq has violated the site management plan. The Committee also called for a permanent ban on all extractive industries within the site, including gas flaring.

In its next review in 2027, UNESCO may, on the basis of the recommendations of the Ramsar Advisory Mission and the Center for the Restoration of the Iraqi Marshes and Wetlands (CRIMW), move to delist Hawizeh and other Iraqi wetlands from the World Heritage List if this trajectory continues, which would mean the loss of both symbolic and material international protection.

Missing Statistics

According to Safaa Khalaf’s study, a local non‑governmental organization in the area confirms that “cancer cases are increasing year after year, as shown by reports provided by residents,” while the Maysan Health Directorate refuses to disclose statistics and the geographic distribution of these cases.

With the help of an employee at the Maysan Health Directorate, an updated cancer registry was obtained up to the last week of September 2025, showing that the number of recorded cases for 2025 reached about 7,735. For comparison, Iraqi Cancer Council statistics indicate that the number of registered cases in Maysan was 988 in 2022 and 1,088 in 2023.

Meanwhile, Hussein Al-Maryani, a member of the Maysan Provincial Council, links this environmental degradation to its direct impact on marshland communities facing the loss of basic means of survival. He said that “the decline in livestock, particularly buffaloes, and the complete collapse of fish stocks due to drought and oil pollution are forcing marsh residents into involuntary migration toward cities in search of livelihoods that are no longer available.”

Addressing the immediate risks facing residents, Haider Adnan, head of the Sons of the Marshes Humanitarian Organization in Al-Mashrah district, said that “the city most affected by oil operations is Al-Mashrah, as it hosts the Halfaya oil field—ushering in a new tragedy.”

Adnan pointed out that “some waste from oil companies, such as plastic barrels used to store chemical substances, leaks out or is sold from within the companies. In the severe shortage of clean water, residents are forced to use these containers for cooking and bathing, posing a compounded health risk and directly introducing toxic chemicals into their daily lives.”

“Scorched earth”: testimonies from the heart of the marsh

Environmental concerns are mounting in Maysan Governorate in southern Iraq (380 km south of Baghdad), particularly in the border areas adjacent to Iran, where the growing expansion of foreign oil company operations poses an imminent threat to the region’s natural resources and biodiversity.

These concerns are especially concentrated around the Hawizeh Marsh basin, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, as well as surrounding areas such as Al-Mashrah, Al-Tayyib, and Al-Fakka.

Environmental advocates and activists believe that this oil expansion is taking place at the expense of the region’s unique ecosystem. Testimonies from local activists point to serious environmental violations along Maysan’s border strip.

In this context, environmental activist Murtadha Al-Janoubi describes the oil expansion as a “scorched earth policy,” carried out without adequate adherence to the environmental standards stipulated in contracts, which obligate companies not to pollute the environment with waste, oil leaks, or chemical substances.

Al-Janoubi explains that “vast areas of once-beautiful natural landscapes have been transformed into waste dumps and oil-contaminated swamps due to continuous leaks, highlighting a lack of commitment by the companies, particularly the Chinese companies operating in the governorate over the past years.”

A Threat to the Environment, Health, and Livelihoods

Abbas Ouda (67), a buffalo breeder known as one of the “Marsh Arabs,”  says: “Our children are the biggest victims. Hospital visits for respiratory illnesses have become routine. Every day we hear about cases of suffocation and chest allergies. Even adults, who grew up breathing the clean air of the marshes, now suffer from persistent coughing that never stops.”

With sorrow, he continues: “We no longer see clear blue skies, only smoke clouds choking the lungs of the entire south. These marshes, once our paradise, have turned into an endless smoky nightmare.” 

The water buffalo is a vital source of livelihood for the inhabitants of the southern Iraqi marshes; it is not just a domestic animal, but a central pillar of their traditional way of life, which is thousands of years old, providing them with a primary source of income through milk, dairy products, and meat. Environmental advocate Ahmed Al‑Saadi warns that “the lakes and oil pits created by this waste pose a danger to wildlife, having caused the death of large numbers of migratory birds and wild creatures.”​

Al‑Saadi believes that “the problem is no longer limited to gas emissions, but has gone beyond that to the continuous expansion of the fields and drilling operations.”

Iraqi researchers affiliated with Al‑Mustansiriyah University in Baghdad published two studies in 2024 based on the analysis of samples of “treated water” from the Halfaya field, which is injected into underground formations to facilitate extraction and then separated from the oil and released into the environment. According to these studies, this treated water contains toxic elements such as copper and cadmium.

Very often, this contaminated water is pumped, together with untreated sewage, into the Kahla River, which pollutes the only water source for the southern marshes and contaminates drinking and irrigation water in all the areas downstream, where pollution levels are extremely high.

TotalEnergies stated in its response to Daraj’s partner Mediapart: “the partners in the Halfaya field, still in contact with the regulatory authority, have invested in a unit, now in operation, which is recycling and treating production water ; and [now uses] saline water pumped from deep wells in order to significantly reduce water pumping from the river.”

Oil Exploration Activities in 2025

One of the key findings of Khalaf’s study is that the duration of the Halfaya contract is twenty years, but it was extended by an additional ten years without the approval of the Council of Representatives or informing the Iraqi public. “This happened because the original contract stipulates that after the completion of oil extraction operations, that is, after twenty years (in 2030), the Halfaya consortium is supposed to return the site to its pre‑extraction condition, which is practically impossible. This constitutes a legal manipulation, as the contract states that the Halfaya consortium bears no responsibility for any environmental damage to the site, and that neither the operator nor the consortium is liable for any harm, which is instead borne by the Iraqi side. As a result, Maysan Oil Company becomes directly responsible for restoring the site to its pre‑extraction state, which is impossible, and this explains the ten‑year extension of the contract without anyone’s knowledge.”

As for the absence of a new contract, Khalaf believes that the primary production target in the first contract was 460,000 barrels per day, but it later became clear that this figure could not be reached due to the environmental conditions of the marshland area, which is not dry. Extraction requires a long time to completely drain the area before production can begin, and for this reason the contract period was extended. “The Halfaya field embodies the extractive predatory model in its starkest form, where foreign companies do not merely act as investors, but also assume the role of a sovereign authority…”

In response to inquiries from the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Oil stated that the development and production contract for the Hawizeh border oil field, awarded to the Chinese company Geo-Jade in 2018, includes “the best global oil industry practices for environmental protection.” The ministry also indicated that copies of the “Environmental Impact Assessment for the Hawizeh Oil Field – Baseline Phase 2024” had been submitted to the Ministries of Environment and Water Resources for approval.

Neither the Iraqi Prime Minister’s Office nor the Ministry of Oil, Maysan Oil Company, Geo‑Jade, nor CNPC and its subsidiary Petrochina responded to the investigation team’s questions.

While TotalEnergies did respond to the project team’s general questions and those specifically related to Iraq, it broadly argued that the project’s global figures “do not reflect the reality on the ground,” because they represent “theoretical overlap between licenses and protected areas, even though only a small portion of these license areas is actually covered by infrastructure.”

Regarding Iraq, we have cited its response throughout this investigation, among the most important points being that TotalEnergies EP Iraq is, according to the company, attentive to the issues related to the Halfaya field and engages and uses its influence as a partner with the authorities, the operator, and other stakeholders.

ENI, in its response to the project partners, argued that the concessions mentioned are exploration licences. The company notes that “in 2024, there were 32 company concessions in the exploration and production segment that overlap with 18 priority areas for biodiversity conservation (including protected areas) worldwide… however, concessions that have not yet entered the development or production phase, or are not operated by Eni, or that do not have active operational assets within the area of overlap, are not included in the aggregate disclosure in the company’s sustainability report.”

Weak Oversight and a Call to Academics

Academics and specialists believe that effective oversight of oil companies’ performance remains weak, noting that these companies are considered of critical economic importance, which may hinder accountability and pressure to fully comply with environmental standards.

Dr. Mohammed Naeem, an academic at the University of Maysan, called on activists to pursue several measures to confront this environmental degradation, including strengthening government oversight and forming independent inspection committees with broad powers to ensure corporate compliance.

The Role of Civil Society Organizations

Asaad Al-Kinani, a member of the “Guardians of the Tigris” program, one of the civil society organizations concerned with water and pollution, emphasized that empowering environmental organizations to carry out their monitoring and awareness roles has become “urgent” in order to track and diagnose challenges amid serious environmental violations and their resulting health and ecological consequences that threaten natural existence.

Al-Kinani noted that “enforcing environmental standards on the ground remains the greatest challenge facing authorities and activists in Maysan in order to preserve its environmental heritage and unique natural landscape.”

It is worth noting that Jassim Al-Fallahi, Deputy Minister of Environment, drew attention to the displacement of 68,000 families from marshland areas during the summer of 2023 due to the “loss of livelihoods after having relied on agriculture, buffalo breeding, and fishing birds and fish.” He attributed this displacement to shrinking agricultural land, increasing desertification, more frequent dust and sandstorms, and prolonged drought.

Al-Fallahi warned that “internal displacement may lead to external migration or the emergence of informal settlements on the outskirts of cities already suffering from severe service shortages. These areas could become breeding grounds for social problems.”

This piece is part of the “Fueling Ecocide” investigative series, conducted by 13 international media platforms, coordinated by the Environmental Investigative Forum (EIF) and the European Investigative Collaborations (EIC) network. Media Platforms: Mediapart (France), Reporters United (Greece), Domani (Italy), Daraj (Lebanon), InfoAmazonia (Brazil), InfoCongo (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Der Standard (Austria), The Bureau of Investigative Journalism/TBIJ (United Kingdom), El Espectador (Colombia), 24.hu (Hungary), Le Soir (Belgium), Expresso (Portugal), and InfoLibre (Spain).This investigation was supported by Journalismfund Europe and IJ4EU (Investigative Journalism for Europe). Data and geodata analysis by Leopold Salzenstein (EIF), Dafni Karavola (Reporters United), Alexandre Brutelle (EIF), and Yann Philippin (Mediapart). Graphic design and illustrations by Simon Toupet (Mediapart).